


how hard would it be to just fall off the face of the earth?

by thosedamnkids



Series: pegoryu week 2020 [2]
Category: Persona 5
Genre: Kinda, M/M, Pegoryu Week 2020, Slow Burn, day 2: famous, overwhelmed akira
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-08-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:20:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25855774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thosedamnkids/pseuds/thosedamnkids
Summary: The Phantom Thieves were getting famous, and Akira can't catch a break.
Relationships: Amamiya Ren/Sakamoto Ryuji, Kurusu Akira/Sakamoto Ryuji, Persona 5 Protagonist/Sakamoto Ryuji
Series: pegoryu week 2020 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1873993
Comments: 2
Kudos: 45





	how hard would it be to just fall off the face of the earth?

**Author's Note:**

> day two: famous, or you know just a way to vent...

Upon defeating Kaneshiro, the Phantom Thieves expected to be a household name. What was not expected, however, was the sheer amount of problems that would come with being famous. Mishima was sending Akira new requests every hour it seemed, to the point where he was considering setting his phone on “DO NOT DISTURB” so he could get some much needed peace and quiet. He was running around everywhere, meeting with confidants, spending way too much money on weapons for his teammates.

It was starting to get to him. Being a Phantom Thief was tough, let alone the appointed leader. While he has no regrets, sometimes he wishes he could just disappear, or have the ability to stop time. Be in his own world, even just for a little bit where it didn’t feel like it was on his shoulders, pulling him closer and closer to destruction, slowly but surely. He knew people needed him, though. He didn’t want to fail people like the system failed him. So he kept his head up, slipped on his glasses in the mornings, and went out to do his daily routine.

Go to school, learn something, exit school, head to the hideout to discuss anything or go to mementos, meet with someone, stop by the velvet room, go home, eat curry, go to sleep (per Morgana’s persistence), rinse, repeat.

He missed the days where he could just lounge around the attic, maybe helping out Sojiro with the cafe, or playing video games with Ryuji while Morgana went on a walk around the neighborhood.

But those were very few and far between. Ryuji and Akira haven’t been able to hang out in weeks. Only fleeting moments at school, before Akira had to run off and take care of business.

It was odd, thinking that he’d actually come to Tokyo in awful circumstances and meet someone who quickly became his best friend (also due to awful circumstances). Ryuji was the first person to understand him and what he was going through. He made him feel like he wasn’t alone in this world full of corrupt adults who were only here to make his life worse.

Ryuji would text him, and he would do his best to reply back, but distractions got in the way and he only realized the next morning when he got another message from him to hang out that he forgot to reply to the previous one, and he felt awful having to reject him because his day was already fucking booked.

And the past weeks have been hell, to the point where he hasn’t been able to even see Ryuji or any of the other Phantom Thieves outside of school.

Then exams came around the corner, which meant Miss Student Council President Makoto Niijima had to round up all her children and help them study at Leblanc. Even Yusuke, who only drew studies of them while they studied. He liked to capture the essence, he said.

He waited in a booth, engrossed in a book as he waited for his teammates, his friends to arrive. His mind wandered, thinking about who would arrive first, or maybe they would all arrive together? He wouldn’t be able to handle that many people at one time.

He heard the familiar chime of the doorbell and looked up, and looking right back at him was a smile that radiated the whole cafe.

“Hey.”

“‘Sup man.” Ryuji replied, while his smile turned into the deepest comical frown he could muster. Akira couldn’t help but laugh.

Ryuji slotted into the booth right next to Akira, his arm snaking its way around his shoulder getting all up into Akira’s personal space. He welcomed it.

“These exams are gonna kick my ass.”

“When do they not?”

“...Good point,” Ryuji leaned over. “Whatcha readin’?”

Akira held up the book to show him the cover. It was a little embarrassing, but he’s been wanting to learn more about the origin of personae; one day at the library he found a book about Captain Kidd, and decided to pick it up.

Maybe it would give him a better understanding of Ryuji too.

“My persona? Haha, he seems really cool to be honest. I haven’t looked more into him but if there’s ever a manga about him, I’d totally read it! Speaking of which…”

Ryuji shuffled through his bag and pulled out a copy of the latest manga he’s been reading. Sometimes, when he came over to hang out, they’d read together.

“Wanna catch up tonight?”

It was such a simple question, yet it overwhelmed Akira. Today was Saturday, which meant he had a day off tomorrow. But if he was being honest with himself, he wasn’t too sure he wanted someone occupying his room tonight, because that meant he had to be entertaining, and being entertaining required energy he has had no chance to replenish.

Akira must’ve hesitated for too long, because Ryuji then spoke up. “It’s okay, maybe some other time.” He had a smile on his face but his eyes looked dejected. It made Akira sad to see him like this. The fact that he’s been blowing him off too many times now, it felt selfish that he wanted some time to recharge.

But before he could say anything, the doorbell chimed again, and this time Makoto and Ann were at the door. Small greetings were exchanged by the four of them. Yusuke came along shortly after, Morgana returned from wherever he was, and their study session began.

Akira looked over at Ryuji every now and then, who kept on speaking up about his troubles in whatever subject they were on, Makoto helping him the best he can. Yusuke’s pen was flying away on his paper as he sketched the scene in front of him. Ann kept on twirling her hair as she studied over her notes (or was she daydreaming? She looked pretty out of it now that Akira thought about it). Morgana insulted Ryuji, Ryuji insulted him back, which resulted in a screaming match that Makoto had to break up to keep Ryuji concentrated on.

An hour passed, Akira made coffees for everyone (and a soda for Ryuji), Ryuji tried giving up on studying, Makoto did _not_ allow that to happen while she was responsible, Ann started doodling on her notes, Yusuke rudely critiqued her doodles, and Akira just sat back and watched everything happen.

He, along with the other Phantom Thieves, also watched as Medjed declared war on them. Akira felt like he was going to pass out. The night turned pensive, now that a worldwide anonymous hacking organization was on their tails, ready to expose them.

The evening winded down and everyone had trains to catch, so Akira offered to walk them all to the station.

“Ryuji.”

Everyone else shuffled out of the cafe, but Akira wanted Ryuji to stay behind just a little longer.

“What’s up?”

Akira looked down at the floor. “I’m sorry I’ve been blowing you off lately. I feel awful about it.”

Ryuji’s response was to just wrap an arm around his shoulder and tug him a little. “Hey, don’t worry about it. I understand, you’re a busy guy. I won’t bother you that much anymore if that’ll make you feel better.” The last sentence was a little quieter than the rest.

“Wait, no. I would love to catch up on the manga by the way. Tonight, if you’re still available.”

Then, Ryuji’s eyes beamed, and a lopsided smile made its way onto his face. “Yeah! Actually, can I go home first? I gotta get some things.”

“Yeah, let’s go catch up with the rest of them.”

Later that night, Ryuji came by with a duffle bag with overnight things, as well as some snacks he picked up at the triple-seven and the manga.

Akira later learned that Ryuji’s presence, even after the hellish weeks that followed Kaneshiro’s confession when it seemed like everyone needed to borrow him, didn’t suck up energy like he thought he would.

He had the desk lamp on while they sat in a comfortable silence reading the manga, which was soon abandoned simply to talk about nothing and everything. Once there was truly nothing to talk about, the lamp was off again, and the attic dark, save for the orange street lamp that was peeking in through the open window in case Morgana came back when they were asleep.

Even in the darkness, Akira could make out his brown eyes that had just a little bit of shimmer in them from the reflecting lights, his spikey blond hair tinted a warm and deep orange, a soft expression on his face. It was the first time in weeks that Akira felt at peace.

Being a Phantom Thief had its ups and downs, but Ryuji being his best friend and right hand man was worth every struggle.

“Hey, Ryuji.”

“Mm?”

“Thank you for being my friend, for being here.”

Ryuji smiled. “No problem man.”

It was pretty childish of him to do, but the opportunity presented itself. He held out his pinky.

“Together forever?”

Ryuji’s chuckle would stay on his mind for days to come. “Of course, man.”

Akira couldn’t ask for anyone else to be by his side.

**Author's Note:**

> so yeah, introverted akira! it's my favorite headcanon because it's very easy to write how he feels, considering i go through the same thing. let me know in the comments how you felt about this? if you couldn't tell, it connected with my previous work. :3 i'm slow burning pegoryu week hur hur


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